Mister Rogers

Today would have been Fred Rogers‘ – known to most of us as “Mister Rogers” – 85th birthday. For those readers who aren’t familiar with Fred Rogers, he hosted a beloved US children’s television show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” for over 30 years. He was known for his gentleness and directness and his unmatched way of explaining things to children at their level. He founded a non-profit, Family Communications, to produce the show, but also to produce books and videos and other materials to help support parents and children. His book “The New Baby,” was read to my husband to help him get ready for his new sister when he was young, we read that same book (with the same wonderful 1980s pictures) to Zoe when we were expecting her younger sister a few years ago.

Mister Rogers was gifted at helping children face unfamiliar and often scary situations of all kinds, including doctor and dentist visits. But imagine my surprise when I learned last month that he had also co-written a chapter of an ophthalmology book, Duane’s Ophthalmology.

He and a colleague at Family Communications, Hedda Sharapan, were asked by a Pittsburgh pediatric ophthalmologist to help to write the chapter “Physical and Psychological Preparation of Children for Anesthesia and Surgery.” Their part was looking at the psychological preparation. But that section doesn’t just talk about preparing a child for ophthalmologic surgery, it covers some of the special considerations of working with children during eye exams. And while it’s targeted at Ophthalmologists, I found it extremely readable, fascinating, and helpful. It’s written in his straightforward style and puts the child’s fears and concerns front and center. The section begins,

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